New 78 LUV Mikado

[Mickey_D]

There are places out there that still have reman stock engines for those things. Also there's a lot of upgrades that are hidden that will improve mileage, performance and emissions. Like the Crane 1/4 mile dirt track cam, the Jacobs Omnipak ignition system, and a Weber carb from a Pinto.

The original OHC engine that came in the LUV had the cam timing retarded 4 degrees to reduce power to come into line with the competition. But the Crane cam corrects that.

The original Hitachi HH240D vacuum secondary carb was detuned also to reduce performance. A Weber mechanical secondary has no such restrictions, which gives better performance but also improves emissions.

The Jacobs ignition helps burn all that extra gas mixture, improving emissions there, too.

You can easily bump the original 74hp engine up well over 125hp with those mods alone and still skate past emissions testing like a breeze.

The weakest links in the drivetrain are the head gaskets and the 4 bolts at the rear U-joint. And if you happen to carry around almost 4,000 pounds in the back doing 125 miles in 1st, 2nd and reverse 6 days a week, you'll eventually wear the idler shaft out in the tranny. Don't ask how I know this...

Can you tell I wish I still had mine?